System Change

“Hey!” Derek said, snapping his fingers at Alanah to get her attention after standing back up. “You okay?”

“Huh?” Alanah shook her head quickly, like she was clearing out some thoughts. “Oh… I’m fine. It… it’s just been a while. I wonder if the commonpeople still remember me.” She let out a sigh. “I know that there are some that will still remember me. There is no way they would be able to ever forget about me.”

“Left an impression, did ya?” Derek smiled.

“Something like that,” Alanah said, and her mouth curved into a slight smile. “Well… I doubt it matters, anyway.”

“Why is that?” Derek asked.

“What are they going to do, fight us?” Alanah snorted. “I’m sure there are some strong people, but I very much doubt any of them can hold a candle to either of us—especially you.”

“Oh, stop it…” Derek said. “You’re going to make me blush.”

Alanah rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You know that it’s the truth.”

“Well… it could be fun if everyone on this continent went on a witch… siren hunt for you,” Derek replied.

“Maybe,” Alanah said. “But not everyone that hates me is bad. I wasn’t exactly a shining example of righteousness back then. I did what I had to do to survive, and that hurt many people and families—a fact that I am not proud of.”

“So we’ll go easy on the good ones.” Derek shrugged. “Now…” he nodded out in front of them. “Do you have any idea where we’re at?”

“Maybe…” Alanah replied, then, with a flick of her wrist, a map appeared in her hands. “This is a very old map, and I’m sure a lot of things have changed since I got it, but we should at least be able to use it to find our general location.”

“I see…” Derek moved over and stood to the side of Alanah and watched as she traced her finger over the map.

“I think we are somewhere around here,” she said as she pointed to one of the coasts. “But we’ll have to find a landmark or something before I can know for sure.”

“We could…” Derek nodded, then said, “Or… we could just ask those guys.” He nodded towards two figures quickly approaching.

“What?” Alanah quickly whipped her head around to see the people. “Oh. I guess that would work as well. I wasn’t thinking about there being guards and outposts by the coast, but I don’t know why… obviously, they would have the same kinds of protections against sea beasts and other things that Cydaria and Indria have.”

“True…” Derek replied. “What do you want to do? Do you want to go meet them?”

“No.” Alanah shook her head. “Let them come to us. We don’t want to seem like a threat, and us rushing up to them could be seen as such.”

“Got it,” Derek replied, then the duo waited for the two figures to get closer. When they were finally close enough for Derek to make out the details, his thoughts were confirmed. “Yup,” he said. “Looks like it’s two guards from somewhere.”

“Indeed,” Alanah agreed. The two approaching men were both wearing the same set of blue and white, medium plate armor. Both of them were wearing helms that covered everything other than their faces, and each sported a white cloak trimmed in blue that matched the rest of their armor perfectly. “That definitely narrows down the possible location where we are.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Alanah said with a nod. “The blue and white cloaked soldiers… it’s the color of the Draylanthian Royal Family. Looks like we missed my target by a bit…”

“You have a history with them?” Derek asked.

“I have a bit of history with pretty much every country on this continent. Draylanthi, where we just happened to land is a very military focused country that isn’t big on intruders—especially ones from afar. But they have always been on decent terms with the kingdom of Vorandell.

“Vorandell is a nation not unlike Cydaria in its ways—other than their naming sense, that is—and also the country where the family of my Deathsworn Gianna lived. Then there is Linderis. Technically, it would be considered my home country—it’s a bit like Indria in its prejudices… maybe even worse. There are two other kingdoms on the continent, as well, Helcomir and Fitali, but there should be no need for us to have to visit them,” Alanah explained.

“I see,” Derek said. “And you plan on going to…”

“I have to go to Linderis, unfortunately,” she said. “I’m sure it will be the same as before, too, so it would be best if we hid ourselves… or at least our ears, when we get there.”

“Even your ears?” Derek asked.

“I’m not a full blood elf,” Alanah answered. “We are treated almost as poorly as humans are.”

“More slavery?” Derek asked.

“No… no slavery…” Alanah replied. “I said almost as bad… we are completely shunned and have no real hope of becoming anything there. Almost nobody would help a young, starving half-elf, and anyone who did would be ostracized.”

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“And the humans? Dwarves? Halflings?” Derek asked.

“Dwarves and halflings are treated about as well as half-elves… maybe a little better. If nothing else, those from Linderis would help them leave the country,” Alanah explained. “But humans… well… Linderis has a very troubled history with humans raiding the kingdom, and even though it’s been forever ago, the hate for humans is still there. At least, it was when I left. Humans from other nations know not to step foot in Linderis unless they are a kingdom’s envoy. Ones that are not… well… there are many that just kill them—doing so isn’t exactly punished.”

“That’s no good…” Derek said.

“It is something that was started by humans because of elven beauty… Linderis just holds a grudge that I doubt will ever go away… at least, that’s how the little time I spent there was,” she explained.

“I’m sorry…” Derek replied. He wasn’t exactly sure what to say.

“No need to be sorry,” Alanah said. “It was the hand I was dealt in life, and I made the best of it. Sure, I went through a lot of trouble in my younger years—almost torturous trouble even—but because of that, I was able to leave and find a new home with new friends and people I consider family. Honestly… looking back… even with all the pain and struggle I had to endure, if I knew this would be the outcome, I still wouldn’t change a thing.”

“That’s good…” Derek said. It was also something that Derek wasn’t sure he could say about his life. Obviously, there were things with his family that he wished he could change, and he doubted those regrets would ever go away—no matter how good his life was. But, even with the regrets, he was living a life that he enjoyed and had people he cared about. It was impossible for him… to weigh the life of his sister against those like Thomas and Brandi.

He could never know for sure, but if his sister hadn’t died that day, there was likely no chance that he would have ended up trapped in the void. Which meant that he would have never been able to save Thomas, Brandi, or Malorie. Still… he knew that his sister would want him to live a good life, so that was what he was doing. He missed her dearly, and he doubted that the void in his heart would ever go away, but he would do whatever he could to not experience such a loss again.

“Here they come…” Alanah whispered to Derek, causing him to snap out of his thoughts and turn his eyes to the two men.

“Who are you?” The two men stopped around ten feet away from Derek and Alanah, and the one on the left asked. “Why are you out here? This area is off limits to civilians.”

“Oh… uh…” Derek rubbed the back of his head, not sure what to say.

“Sorry about that,” Alanah instead spoke up. “Would you mind helping us? I’m afraid we’re lost. Is this still Vorandell?”

“Vorandell? You’re from Vorandell?” the same guard asked.

“Yes,” Alanah replied. It had to be known that both Alanah and Derek were in their armor instead of their normal clothes—neither looked weak. “There was a giant whale tormenting the coast, and we were asked to drive it off. Of course, we took the job… you know, you gain some good experience for our skills by fighting such a giant creature. We thought we would go ahead and kill it instead of only driving it off. Unfortunately, the fight took us far out from our home and, since we were focused on fighting, we weren’t exactly paying attention to where the fight was taking us.”

“And what of the whale?” The guard to the left narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“It got away…” Derek chimed in. “Once I blinded it in one eye and she began focusing her attacks on the base of its skull, I think it realized what kind of predicament it was in. It was becoming pretty tired from breaching and diving to attack us and avoid our attacks. So, it seemed to turn all of its energy on fleeing instead of fighting.”

“We continued to chase it for… well… I don’t know how long,” Alanah said.

“Too long… apparently,” Derek replied, then shook his head. “The thing had so much vitality and endurance that it wasn’t even funny. It may not have been as strong as some of the others that I’ve battled, but it could definitely outlast them in a fight.”

“What kind of whale was it?” one of the guards asked.

“It was called a Maelstrom Whale,” Derek replied. He had been sure to use Identify on the creature he had played with before they made it to the beach. Technically, he wasn’t lying about much. He did fight the whale, and he did blind one of its eyes. Of course, by the time he let it go, the whale had already healed its eye. “It was one big son of a bitch.”

“Bullshit!” The guard on the left stepped forward and clutched at the sword strapped to his waist.

“What?” Derek asked, confused.

“There is no way you met a Maelstrom Whale and got away,” the guard said. “And not only did you get away, but you’re also saying that you chased it off? Bullshit! Do you know how many elites it takes to push one of those whales away from our shores? Do you know the casualty rate?”

“Uh… no?” Derek said. “Two?” Derek saw the side-eye that Alanah gave him. ‘What?’ he sent telepathically. ‘How was I supposed to know that the whale that I went out to play with was some big bad monster?’ It was all he could do not to laugh. If I had known that, I would have just jumped on top of it and rode it here, he thought, but didn’t say.

‘You’re antagonizing the guard,’ Alanah sent back. ‘Draylanthi may be a militaristic country, but it isn’t bad. I don’t want to hurt these guards. They are just doing their jobs.’

‘I know,’ Derek sent back. ‘And we won’t hurt them… a little intimidation never hurt anyone, though.’

“You…”

“Please, sir,” Alanah said, holding her hands up. “My friend is not lying. He does not mean to antagonize you. He is just a bit blunt and dumb. I’m sure there was a better way for him to go about it, but… like I said… he’s a bit dumb.”

“Hey!” Derek blurted.

“Quiet…” Alanah said.

“Still…” It seemed that the man had calmed some, but he didn’t believe their story. “Just you two?”

“My name is Lana, and this is Derek. We are what the two of you would probably consider elite adventurers… the elite of the elite,” Alanah explained. “Occasionally, we take on tasks that others will not. And occasionally… my dumb friend likes to go chase around big monsters just for the fight.”

“Prove it,” finally, the other guard spoke up.

“Prove it?” Alanah asked.

“Prove that you are ‘elite adventurers’ that wouldn’t instantly die to a whale capable of creating disaster sized whirlpools in an instant. That you would even have the strength to survive.”

“Oh… that’s easy enough,” Derek said, then he disappeared.

“Derek, don’t…” Alanah said, but it was too late. Derek was already standing behind the two men, and he was lifting both up by the back of their necks. If she wanted him to play the blunt and dumb friend, then he would.

Next, both men drew their swords and stabbed backwards into Derek’s torso. However, the swords were barely able to leave a scratch on his armor. After that, he dropped the two guards, then disappeared again, standing beside Alanah in the next instant.

“Is that enough?” he asked.

“Did you have to do that?” Alanah asked.

“They wanted me to prove it… what better way than to show them a little power?” Derek asked. “See? Look.” He nodded his head in the direction of the guards. “I think they believe me now. Don’t you? Nobody got hurt, and everyone is completely fine.”

Alanah blinked a couple of times, then sighed. Finally, she bowed slightly and said, “I am truly sorry about my dumb friend. He’s… well… there is a reason I’m the one who usually deals with other people.”

“I understand,” the guard on the left said once he got his bearings. The look after witnessing a portion of Derek’s power had changed from one of complete suspicion to one of hesitation, respect, and a little bit of fear. However, Derek had quickly withdrawn after giving them a little show and did not even leave a mark on them or hurt them in any way. With a sigh, the guard said, “You have my sympathy.”